Closed petition Provide free public transport for all secondary school pupils
I believe that all children in secondary schools in Wales should have the right to free public transport so that they can travel to their catchment area secondary school* safely.
We live 2.4 miles from our children's secondary school but our council states that free transport is only available to those who live 3 miles (or further) from their catchment secondary school. Walking to school would take between 50 minutes and an hour from our house along busy and congested roads. There is no safe cycle path.
As a family we spend over £80 a month on bus tickets for our 2 children. It's money we really can't afford but for some parents finding £40 a month (per child) is impossible and so their children are forced to walk along dark, busy, dangerous and polluted roads to get to the school. This is unfair and discriminates against the poorest children in society.
More details
The Welsh Government published a review (March 2022) of the 'Learner Travel Measure (Wales)' and in June 2022 Mark Drakeford said there will be a 'comprehensive engagement programme which will ensure that all of our stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute to the subsequent wider review'.
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*A catchment area secondary school refers to the KS3/4 education location of the child/young person including the Welsh-medium Schools, English-medium Schools, Bilingual Schools, Faith Schools, Special Schools, Pupil Referral Units, EOTAS provision (Education Other than School ) and so forth.
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The Welsh Youth Parliament’s consultation on public transport and active travel
The Welsh Youth Parliament’s Climate and Environment Committee are currently running a consultation on public transport and active travel. They are keen to hear young people’s experiences about the cost, reliability, accessibility and safety of public transport and active travel. The findings will be presented and shared with the Welsh Government later in the year. The consultation will run until June 2023.
Here's the consultation for young people (under 25): https://forms.office.com/e/AqXQVxXDjw and here’s the consultation for adults (over 25): https://forms.office.com/e/wEE2wnZ8mD.